Benjamin Spock

Benjamin Spock (2 May 1903-15 March 1998) was an American pediatrician and a New Left and peace activist during the Vietnam War.

Biography
Benjamin Spock was born in New Haven, Connecticut in 1903, and he graduated first in his class from Columbia University in 1929 and became a renowned pediatrician. His 1946 Baby and Child Care became the most widely-consulted work on childcare, and he sought to understand children's needs and family dynamics. He convinced families to be kind to their children and treat them as individuals, shaping new parenting styles. During the Vietnam War, Spock became a socialist New Left activist, criticizing the war in Vietnam as unwinnable and fought to protect Lyndon B. Johnson's face. In 1966, he and Martin Luther King Jr. led a massive antiwar protest at Central Park in New York City. In 1972, he ran for President of the United States as the socialist People's Party candidate, calling for the legalization of "victimless crimes". He died in 1998.